Please join us for our next social hour chat after meeting on April 21, the day before Earth Day. We'll gather at about 12:30 for no more than half an hour to learn from each other and share thoughts about the earth and the climate crisis. We will consider what we love about the earth, share what we are pleased about doing to help, and think about how we might stretch to do more. This informal, in person gathering will be held in the meeting room once folks have had a chance to grab a snack and a drink. Hope to see you there to share your thoughts and questions. 

Please consider the following queries, which will be addressed at the called meetings:

1.       What do you see as this meeting’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges?

2.       Who are we now and who would we like to become as a meeting?

3.       What would make it feasible for you to participate in the life of the meeting by attending business meeting?

Alternate means of responding to the queries will be provided for those unable to attend a called session.

Please consider the following queries, which will be addressed at the called meetings:

1.       What do you see as this meeting’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges?

2.       Who are we now and who would we like to become as a meeting?

3.       What would make it feasible for you to participate in the life of the meeting by attending business meeting?

Alternate means of responding to the queries will be provided for those unable to attend a called session.

At the meetinghouse. No pre-registration is needed, and you are welcome to attend however many sessions you wish. Childcare will be available. 

At the meetinghouse. No pre-registration is needed, and you are welcome to attend however many sessions you wish. Childcare will be available.

At the meetinghouse. No pre-registration is needed, and you are welcome to attend however many sessions you wish. Childcare will be available.

At the meeting house. No pre-registration is needed, and you are welcome to attend however many sessions you wish. Childcare will be available.

Please join the State College Friends Meeting Adult RE committee on Sunday, November 12 at 1:00 in hosting Chris Staley as he shares his spiritual journey: Poignant Moments. How can questions be the answer?  Chris will share moments in his life that posed questions that have guided his spiritual life. These are a few questions that will guide this interactive experience.

What has been one of the most challenging times in your life?
What did that experience teach you?
How do we learn to have more empathy?
What role does doubt play in one’s spiritual journey?
If there is that of love in all of us, how do we grow that love?

 This will be a hybrid program held at the meeting house. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88194490526?pwd=Si9RK0VRcHh5ak9ONGh4MTFVdjU0Zz09

A Quaker Earthcare Witness Program

Presenter: Mary Jo Klingel

Hosted by the Climate Justice Working Group

When Quaker Earthcare Witness Friends began speaking to the Religious Society of Friends, we saw our work as alerting Friends to the dangers of climate change. Today, Friends are fully aware of the impending tragedies from our failure to care for the Earth. Friends are more likely to ask us, “What can I do?” and “What can I do that will make any difference?” Mary Jo’s interactive and optimistic workshop will address those questions directly, as we consider the many gifts that Friends have to offer. We will come together as a listening community, grounded in Friend’s Testimonies, seeking guidance to support one another and our Earth.

Registration is required for this event at: https://secure.quakerearthcare.org/civicrm/event/info?id=100&reset=1

Please join us!  Join the Racial Justice Working Group at our next zoom meeting, April 11 from 7:00-8:00 pm. In the past we have done a series of educational zoom meetings to learn about the history of racism in our country and the ways it is still manifest, even unconsciously, in society today.  We are ready to look at new ways of working for racial justice, and we would like your help.  Everyone is invited! The link is:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86768458587?pwd=ck53S1pOZGpmbDlzYmtyNUVhcVVoQT09
Meeting ID: 867 6845 8587
Passcode: 023076

FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC ROOTS OF THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY.- A Quaker Earthcare Witness Program
PRESENTER: Pamela Haines
Hosted by the Climate Justice Working Group
The dynamics and priorities of our economy are a key driver of the climate emergency, and the economy is now driven to a significant extent by the financial sector. You don’t have to be an economist to explore these connections and identify key issues and areas of opportunity.
Pamela Haines, a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, is a writer, workshop leader and speaker with a common theme of demystifying the connections between economics and daily life, while challenging people to claim their power and act on their values. Lead author of Toward a Right Relationship with Finance; Interest, Debt, Growth and Security, she has also written Money and Soul, and blogs at pamelahaines.substack.com.
Registration is required for this event at: https://secure.quakerearthcare.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=96

Please join the Adult RE committee on Sunday, March 12 at 1:00 in hosting Emma Graham as she shares her spiritual journey.  Emma grew up attending Wellsboro Friends Meeting until the age of 16 and has been attending State College Friends Meeting off & on for the past 12 years. Growing up participating in youth Quaker Camps in PYM & BYM led Emma to a deeper exploration of Quakerism and that has shaped her direction in Quaker Education and Volunteer service. Emma attended Westtown for 3 years & graduated in 2006. While there she was a part of the Quaker Leaders Program and attended Westtown Friends meeting weekly. She then went on to Guilford College and participated in the Quaker Leadership Scholars Program for the 2 years she was there. Emma worked at the Woolman Semester School in Nevada City, CA in 2010 as an admissions representative and also worked as the Friends Center Intern at Guilford College for part of her time, when she returned to school in 2016.  Emma attended New Garden Friends Meeting, First Friends, and Friendship meeting when she returned to the school at different times. While at Guilford, Emma participated in a Quaker led service trip with Frank Massey to the Belize Friends School, in Belize City in Spring of 2017. The focus was on assisting kids in the classroom and helping to renovate a building for a new school site.  After graduating from Guilford in May 2018, she & her sister, Sunita, went on a Service trip to Ramallah Palestine/ Israel led by Max & Jane Carter. The focus was on serving the Ramallah Friends School with building projects and hearing about living under the Occupation. Emma will be sharing how these experiences have shaped her growth & deepened her true connection to Quakerism. This will be a hybrid program held at the meetinghouse. 

Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 881 9449 0526
Passcode: Friend

PRESENTER: JIM KESSLER
Hosted by the Climate Justice Working Group and the Garden Committee

Jim will share powerful and inspiring stories, illustrated with colorful photos, of how creating native plant habitat has positively impacted the mental, physical, and spiritual health of his Quaker family. The presentation also describes how songbird, pollinator, and wildlife populations have dramatically increased in response to the introduction of native plants onto the Kessler Prairie property. Following a spiritual leading, Jim has shared over 100 presentations and workshops about the importance of reintroducing native plantings into personal and public landscapes during the last 12 years. His goal is to motivate others to plant butterfly gardens and larger native plant habitats to confront the extinction and climate crises. Loss of biodiversity can be reversed by the actions of ordinary people. Handouts that explain how to plan, plant, and maintain publicly acceptable native plant butterfly gardens and habitats will be provided for participants

Registration is required for this event at: https://secure.quakerearthcare.org/civicrm/event/info?id=92&reset=1

Biographical Information
Jim was born on an Iowa farm in 1946 near Oskaloosa to Quaker parents. In 1970 while in graduate school, he read a Sierra Club book – A Moment in the Sun. This new awareness of environmental issues was a turning point. Soon after accepting a position teaching Biology at Newton High School (NHS) in Newton, Iowa in 1972, Jim visited an incredibly beautiful virgin prairie that was plowed a year later. Soon he planted a prairie garden in his backyard and began to manage the NHS prairie. Jim has been married to Kathy Kessler for over 50 years. They have 2 sons and 7 grandchildren. In 1998, they bought 30 acres south of Grinnell and restored prairie, oak savanna, wetland, and woodland habitats. In 2017, they donated most of the property to the Bur Oak Land Trust in Iowa City. During the past 8 years, Jim has shared over 100 native planting presentations and workshops with audiences in Iowa and in other states. He taught Biology at NHS from 1972 – 2005 and Environmental Biology at Iowa Valley Community College from 2005 – 2020. Jim and Kathy are members of Grinnell Friends Church in Grinnell, Iowa.

Again this year we are inviting all meeting members and attenders to reflect on the past year in order to write a report of the spiritual state of our meeting. It will include observations about our spiritual health, care of members and attenders, activities, outreach and more. In essence, it is a summary of the well being of the meeting.

We will hold 2 meetings, both in hybrid form (in person and on Zoom), one on Sunday, February 19, at 1 pm, and the other on Tuesday, February 21, at 7 pm. Please try to attend one of the meetings.

The queries this year are:

How has our meeting fostered an environment in which members and attenders of all ages know they are loved, cared for, trusted, and respected? What enhancements or changes would you like to see in our meeting this year?

Again this year we are inviting all meeting members and attenders to reflect on the past year in order to write a report of the spiritual state of our meeting. It will include observations about our spiritual health, care of members and attenders, activities, outreach and more. In essence, it is a summary of the well being of the meeting.

We will hold 2 meetings, both in hybrid form (in person and on Zoom), one on Sunday, February 19, at 1 pm, and the other on Tuesday, February 21, at 7 pm. Please try to attend one of the meetings.

The queries this year are:

How has our meeting fostered an environment in which members and attenders of all ages know they are loved, cared for, trusted, and respected? What enhancements or changes would you like to see in our meeting this year?

How have we translated concern into action on racial justice and climate justice? What more are we led to do?

There will be an Adult RE presentation by the Prison Outdoor Recreation Committee (an ad hoc group of people of faith). Friends Meeting will host a pizza and salad dinner at 6:00 and the program (which will be hybrid) will begin at 7:00. The Prison Outdoor Recreation Committee will discuss the issue of Centre County prisoners NOT having outdoor recreation, which is against the intent of Pennsylvania law. This committee is in the process of garnering support (in the way of letter writing and attending the Prison Board meetings) of Centre County residents for their effort to get outdoor recreation for Centre County prisoners (and other county prisoners throughout the state).  In addition, Laurence (a friend of the Meeting) will talk about his incarceration experience.  Please join us for this Pizza and Program event!

Join Zoom Meeting @ 7:00

Meeting ID: 881 9449 0526
Passcode: Friend

Please join the Adult RE committee and Jackie Hook at the SC meetinghouse on Sunday, January 15 at 1:00 as Jackie shares thoughts on giving support to those who are dying.  Jackie Naginey Hook, MA, is a spiritual director, celebrant and end-of-life doula whose work helps people find hope, healing and wholeness. Companioning ourselves and others around dying, death and grief can feel scary and overwhelming. We want to do and say the “right” things. What if the best place to start is simply being present and attending to what is going on inside of ourselves? Join us at this hybrid gathering (Zoom link below) to discuss ways to both give and receive light in what some call dark times. 

 Jackie coordinates the Helping Grieving Hearts Heal program with Koch Funeral Home, including, creating memorable funeral ceremonies and remembrance services, community outreach and end-of-life support. Jackie also offers individual and group spiritual direction, programs and retreats in loss, spirituality and forgiveness, facilitates Learning to Live: What's Your Story? and Footprints in the Field’s Grief and Loss Support Program, and writes articles for the Centre County Gazette, Centre Daily Times, and Centered magazine. She has a B.S. in Business from Penn State University and an M.A. in Wellness from the University of Central Florida.  

Join the Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 881 9449 0526
Passcode: Friend

Invitation to a Quaker Earthcare Witness Zoom workshop on Jan. 11, 2023 from 7-8:30 pm:

QUAKER TESTIMONIES AS A TEMPLATE?

Mary Ann Percy, QEW Steering Committee, Bellingham Friends Meeting, WA

The bad news is coming fast now–nearly on a daily basis it seems we’re hearing of another climate-related disaster, another breakdown in Earth’s and Life’s support system–the web seems to be unraveling…

• How not to become paralyzed by despair?

• What does Friends’ Faith and Practice, and specifically our Testimonies, have to offer us for both understanding and addressing these many challenges which face us?

• How may we come to live in Right Relationship with the Living World, respecting and supporting the inherent integrity of the Earth community?!

The workshop content will be largely experiential, includes a brief presentation, and opportunities for reflection and worship-sharing. For a short portion of the workshop, Mary Ann asks you to consider if you could manage sitting outside for ~15 minutes with warm blankets tucked over a hot water bottle or a microwave heated rice bag. Second best, consider sitting indoors looking out a window or sit with a houseplant, spider/web, etc.

Registration is required for this program at this link: https://tinyurl.com/bdde8hzm

Please join us for our annual candlelight service, either in person or on Zoom. We'll light a candle to put on the table as we share our messages, or someone will light one for you if you're on Zoom. Light refreshments will follow in the Social Room. See the bulletin or email annsidone1@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

Please join the Adult RE committee on Sunday, December 4 for some time with our good Friend, Campbell Plowden. Before Meeting for Worship, at 9:15, Campbell will share information about his work with the Center for Amazon Community Ecology which supports sustainable livelihoods and cooperation in native communities in the Peruvian Amazon. This is a hybrid event (see link below) to be held at the meetinghouse. After MFW, from 12:30-2:30, Campbell will host a craft sale of unique fair-trade handicrafts made by native artisans including Christmas ornaments, baskets, bags, belts, jewelry and more. Campbell has spent his life supporting conservation and human dignity.  He founded the Center for Amazon Community Ecology (publicly known as Amazon Ecology- www.AmazonEcology.org) in 2006 to promote forest conservation and sustainable development with forest-based communities in the Amazon region.  This group helps hundreds of traditional artisans from 18 native and campesino communities in the northern Peruvian Amazon to make and market innovative fair-trade handicrafts, improve the management of plants used to make crafts, empower artisan associations, and strengthen their communities.  So mark your calendars and come support Campbell in his important work.

State College Friends Meeting is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Time: Sunday, December 4 at 9:15-10:45
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 881 9449 0526
Passcode: Friend

It's time for our Meeting to "Ring the Bell for Interfaith Human Services" at Meyers' Dairy on December 17th. Please sign up for an hour on the sign up Signup Genius Website.

For the November Adult RE program, Joe Doherty, Head of School at State College Friends School, will provide a glimpse into the future of Friends education. He will present this hybrid program at 1:00 on Sunday, November 13. This presentation will include the importance of the Quaker testimonies, providing a personalized learning environment, fostering a culture of love, and preparing students for an unknown and unpredictable future. Please come ready to share as there will be time for friends to discuss the indelible and transformative moments from their education. If you plan to join us by Zoom, please use the following link:

Time: Sunday, November 13 at 1:00
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 881 9449 0526
Passcode: Friend

JT Dorr-Bremme will host a hybrid Adult Religious Education session "Eldering: Reclaiming a Practice". The session will last about one hour with a focus on eldership in modern unprogrammed Friends. Eldering is a tradition for Quakers, and it is often also unfamiliar in Friends' practices. Bring your questions and curiosity! After an introduction to the noun/verb "elder" and some personal reflections on JT's eldership practice, we will spend most of our time in discussion and Q&A. Please join us for the program either at the meetinghouse or by Zoom using this link:
Join the Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 881 9449 0526
Passcode: Friend

The second part will be a Walking Tour of some of the key sites of the Underground Railroad/African American/Quaker history in Bellefonte. The tour will begin at 11 AM on Saturday, September 17. Those wishing to carpool from the SC meetinghouse should meet there at 10:30. The tour will be leisurely and very informative but it is a walking tour so wear comfortable shoes. The tour will last about 90 minutes. This portion is limited to 25 people. Please get meeting location information and sign up at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084EAEAA28A3FB6-bellefonte. Please contact Robert at Rlumleyski@gmail.com with questions.

The September Adult RE program will be presented in two parts. Robert Lumley-Sapanski will present a program on the little known Underground Railroad history in Bellefonte. The first part will be a hybrid meeting at 7 PM on Thursday, September 15. The Zoom link is below and the in person portion will be in the Friends School library. Robert will share slides and talk about the Underground Railroad history in Bellefonte, the role the Quakers played during this time and other related historical facts; for instance, did you know Frederick Douglass spoke in Bellefonte or that Bellefonte was one of the first Pennsylvania public school districts to integrate their schools?
State College Friends Meeting Zoom meeting link for hybrid Underground Railroad talk at Friends School.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81276515733?pwd=RmcvMnRJY1c5cGEwVkQ3aURPc1F4dz09

Meeting ID: 812 7651 5733
Passcode: 964888

Kenyan Quaker Judith Nandikove will talk about her ministries in education, women's health and empowerment, and water security throughout East Africa (see below for more details on her work). Join us to greet Judith over potluck dessert on the lawn of the State College Friends Meetinghouse at 6:15, followed by a hybrid program in the meeting room and on Zoom at 7:00. Judith will be accepting donations from those inspired to support her work.

Zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88194490526?pwd=Si9RK0VRcHh5ak9ONGh4MTFVdjU0Zz09

Meeting ID: 881 9449 0526
Passcode: Friend

For the Adult RE July program, Friends are invited to spend a couple hours Saturday morning, July 9, visiting the historic Bald Eagle/Unionville Quaker Cemetery, which is currently being restored after a century of neglect. Plan to be at the meetinghouse by 10:00, where we will carpool for a drive to the cemetery, or instead plan to be at the Union Township Maintenance building (125 Sycamore Lane; Julian, PA) by 10:30. Doug Miller and others will share information about the history of the nineteenth-century meeting and cemetery. The cemetery is located about three miles north of Unionville along the Bald Eagle Creek, and is accessed through an adjacent farmstead. We will be in the woods so bug/tick repellent as well as sunscreen is advised. You may also want to bring a lawn chair to enjoy the program in comfort and/or a bag lunch to have a picnic after the program.